Atkinson at centre of fresh racism claims

Football pundit Ron Atkinson was at the centre of new racism allegations today after being accused of insulting Chinese women…

Football pundit Ron Atkinson was at the centre of new racism allegations today after being accused of insulting Chinese women.

Atkinson was speaking to more than 250 people at a fund-raising event at one of his former clubs, at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium.

He is said to have sparked outrage at the event on Thursday after telling the audience: "The Chinese people have the best contraception in the world - but I can't understand why there's so many of them because their women are so ugly."

But Atkinson defended himself today, saying: "I cannot believe anyone has complained about anything I said. I went there to help them out and to raise money. I stayed for ages and did photographs.

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"I can't believe this - I just can't believe this.  I can't say anything now. I've been ultra-careful about everything. It was an easy evening and everyone enjoyed themselves."

Atkinson was forced to resign from his role as ITV's football analyst in April last year after making racist comments about former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly.

Atkinson, 65, also lost his job as a pundit for the Guardian newspaper in the storm which followed his off-air comments after Chelsea lost 3-1 to Monaco in a Champions League semi-final.

PA